In the promotion of goods and services, oftentimes advertising materials including premium coupons are distributed to the consumer. Moreover, in the sale of products other printed material including warranty cards, instruction sheets, and the like are also distributed to the consumer. Various modes of distribution of these materials are employed by the manufacturer and/or the distributor of such products.
One such mode of distribution involves the placement of coupons in newspapers, magazines and the like. This mode of distribution is, however, very expensive. Another method of putting coupons, warranty cards, instruction sheets and other such printed materials in the hands of the consumer is to insert them directly into the package of the product sold by the advertiser. While this mode of distribution is inexpensive when compared to newspaper and magazine advertisement, it also presents a number of problems. One of the major problems relates to the fact that the insert material may not be readily removable from the package in which it is contained. Thus, in many cartons the insert material may be intermixed with the container contents. In order to remove the insert from the carton, the carton must be completely opened and, oftentimes, it is necessary to remove substantially the entire contents of the container before being able to locate and remove the insert material.
Mathison U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,820 discloses one form of a carton having a means for dispensing an insert therefrom. Specifically, Mathison discloses a carton having a coupon enclosed therein and glued to the interior surface of one of the minor or major flaps forming the top panel of the carton. While this particular carton construction makes it easier to locate the coupon, it is still necessary to completely open the carton to remove the insert material.
Niemeyer U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,682 also discloses a carton construction with means for dispensing an insert material. The carton disclosed by this patent has a pocket formed on the interior surface of one of the carton walls for holding a coupon. However, like the carton disclosed by Mathison, the Niemeyer carton has to be completely opened before the coupon can be located and removed.
See also Eilertsen U.S. Pat. No. 2,822,084 and Byrd U.S. Pat. No. 2,502,417 which disclose cartons for rolled materials such as surgical gauze. The cartons disclosed by both of these references have tabs which are used to help withdraw the contents, e.g. surgical gauze, from the container.
It is among the objects of this invention to provide an improved carton construction for holding an insert material, wherein the insert can be easily removed from the carton without completely opening the carton, destroying the integrity of the carton, or disturbing its contents.